Lee
Hoiby is a contemporary composer whose name may be unknown to
most concertgoers but the chances are good that you have heard his vocal
or choral music performed. For the past 40 years, he has been a favorite
of such American singers as Leontyne Price, Arleen Auger, William Sharp,
Jennifer Larmore and Renée Fleming. He has written ten operas,
two of which debuted at the New York City Opera-- A Month in the Country
in 1964, and Summer and Smoke (with a libretto by Lanford Wilson based
on the Tennessee Williams play) in 1972.

The
Manhattan
School of Music Opera Theater is reviving Hoiby's A Month in the Country
on Wednesday, December 8 and Friday, December 10 at 8pm, and Sunday, December
12 at 2:30 pm in the School's John C. Borden Auditorium. Steven Osgood
conducts the opera, which is directed by Ned Canty.

Composed
in 1964 on a commission from the NYC Opera, A Month in the Country has
a libretto by William Ball based on Ivan Turgenev's play of the same name.
Originally titled Natalia Petrovna, the opera was revised in 1981 for a
performance at New England Conservatory, and was retitled at that time.

Hoiby
was born in Wisconsin in 1926. He studied piano with Gunnar Johansen and
Egon Petri but gave up his intentions to be a concert pianist when he received
an invitation to study composition with Gian Carlo Menotti at the Curtis
Institute in Philadelphia. Menotti led Hoiby to opera, presenting Hoiby's
one-act The Scarf at the first Spoleto (Italy) Festival in 1957.

The
Tempest, based on Shakespeare's last play (libretto adapted by Mark Shulgasser)
was premiered at the Des Moines Metro Opera in 1986, and produced by the
Dallas Opera in November 1996. Among Hoiby's shorter operas are the one-act
buffa Something New for the Zoo (1980), This Is the Rill Speaking (based
on Lanford Wilson's early one-act play; 1992), and the two musical monologues,
The Italian Lesson (text by Ruth Draper) and Bon Appetit! (text by Julia
Child), which were performed off-Broadway and on tour by Broadway/TV actress
Jean Stapleton in the late 80s.

Hoiby
is best known for his songs, many set to texts by Emily Dickinson, Wallace
Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, and James Merrill, which are widely performed.
In 1995 his setting of the Martin Luther King, Jr. text Free at Last and
five Whitman poems, I Was There, were premiered by baritone William Stone
and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. In 1994 his What Is the Light,
based on texts by Virginia Woolf, was performed at the 92nd Street Y by
actress Claire Bloom.

Hoiby
has also made notable contributions to the choral repertory, including
the oratorios A Hymn of the Nativity (text by Richard Crashaw, 1960), Galileo
Galilei (Barrie Stavis, 1974), and For You O Democracy (Walt Whitman, 1992).
Among his numerous anthems and shorter choral works should be mentioned
the widely performed Hymn to the New Age which was heard on the internationally
broadcast celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations at
San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. A commissioned work, Measureless Love
for baritone and chorus (text, again, by Walt Whitman) was heard at the
centennial celebration of the American Guild of Organists in New York in
July 1996.

Hoiby
has been a recipient of Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, and the National
Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Numerous concerts devoted exclusively
to his music have taken place, most notably on the American Composer's
Series at the Kennedy Center in 1990.

Gerber's
“Elegy on the Name Dmitri Shostakovich” for solo cello will be performed by
cellist Suren Bagratuni at the Auditorium of The School of Music
on the campus of the College of Arts and Letters of Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Michigan. Tickets are $8, $6 for senior citizens, and
free for students and those under age 18. For more information, please
contact (517) 355-3345.

Ten
years ago John Zorn composed the first 100 Masada tunes in a single year.
From September to October of 2004 he composed an unprecedented 240 tunes
in only two months, and the book continues to grow. This special mini festival
brings together the best of the Masada Family in a kaleidoscopic premiere
reading of 80 new tunes from the second book of Zorn's most popular musical
project. $20 each set. Tonic is located at 107 Norfolk Street between
Delancey and Rivington Streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

One
of the premier new music groups in the world, eighth blackbird has established
a reputation for its provocative performances.

The
blackbird is not seen as the observor wills...

By Deborah Kravetz

They
usually do it in the dark. They usually do it from memory and theyusually do
it with choreography--all of which can add up to a prettyimpressive
performance when eighth
blackbird comes to town. They usuallyoutshine local
contemporary classical ensembles with their polish and senseof sheer fun--but
not this time.

What made this
concert in the Kimmel Center's Fresh Ink series ofparticular
interest to Philadelphia was the premiere of "Zaka" (2003) byhometown composer
Jennifer Higdon. In this commissioned piece, Higdon ispaying tribute
to the physical aspects of the ensemble. Higdon's definitionof the made-up
word "zaka" is doing "several things almost simultaneouslyand with great
speed." And that they can do.

Short rapid
notes and sounds show up the percussiveness of even the flute,while the
jagged rhythm and phrases impel the energy. As a world premiere,the ensemble
did play from scores, but it is easy to imagine the complexmovements
that may be inspired with familiarity. A contrasting quietsection focuses
on a lyric flute and cello line, but is obscured by fog andhigh bird
calls. Waves of piano chords build in intensity until the frenzyreturns; successive
cycles of sound are shorter and faster.

Another premiere
by a local composer, David Ludwig's "Haiku Catharsis"(2004), is
based on four seasonal poems with note sequences based on haikusyllable counts.
"Night" concentrates the dark tones of flute and clarinet;"Covered with
flowers" mutes the strings and highlights the chime-likepercussion.
"Late Cicadas" are buzz-like cello tones with humming soundsfrom winds
interspersed with sudden silences. Gong and piano chords imitatethe "Temple
bell" under a flute solo in the final short movement.

"Les Moutons
des Panurge" (1969) by Frederic Rzewski was introduced by anextended albeit
humorous retelling of the inspirational tale by Rabelais.As in the
tale of the sixty-five mindlessly following sheep, the composeradds one note
at a time to a repeated sequence, and then subtracts them inthe reverse
order. The resulting phrase has a jazzy quality of unevenrhythm in
the length of its arc, while the incessant repetition makes italmost familiar
to the ear while it continually permutates as the playersmiscalculations
become texture and a sort of improvisation. They made itseem so easy,
and the energy was palpable.

The program
was completed with "Critical Moments 2" (2001) by George Perle,a set of nine
frustratingly truncated movements; "Cendres" (1998) by KaijaSaariaho for
alto flute, cello and piano; and "Dramamine" (2002) by David"Gordon for
prepared piano and an array of percussion evoking thediscordance
of quarter-tone separation of simultaneous lines.

Different
TrainsComposer:
Steve ReichDavid
Robertson,Orchestre
National de LyonNaive

This
is a new version of Reich's haunting 1988 masterpiece (the
original used four string quartets--both pre-recorded and live) prepared
for 48 strings by the composer at the suggestion of the conductor
David Robertson. The result further enhances the lyricism and emotional
impact of this powerful piece, which contrasts the trains that young Reich
rode across the United States to visit his divorced parents in the 1940s
with the trains of Nazi Germany during the same period.
It is coupled with two other major scores by Reich: Triple
Quartet (1999) for 36 strings, and The Four Sections (1986), a "concerto
for orchestra" that highlights each of the sections of the large symphony
orchestra in turn

Marin
Alsop conducts the Bournemouth symphony orchestra in extraordinary performances
of Glass' Second and Third symphonies. The Second was comissioned
by the Brooklyn Acadamy of Music and premiered there in 1994 by Dennis
Russell Davies. The Third, which arrived only three years later,
is composed for chamber orchestra. Lots of polyharmonies,
rousing finales, and fully-formed symphonic statements. Essential listening
for anyone interested in contemporary music.

Nuit
des HommesComposer:
Per NørgårdMarkus
Falkbring, violaHelene
Gjerris, mezzo-sopranoAndreas
Hagman, violinKaare
Hansen, conductorFredrik
Lindström, celloHelge
Rønning, tenorBodil
Rørbech, violinGert
Sørensen, percussionDaCapoFirst
performed in 1996, Nørgård called this "…
an opera of sorts …" Whatever it is, it is both radical and
powerful. Two singers, male and female, take on three roles each,
as well as chorus, over the course of 65 minutes, augmented by two violins,
viola, cello and percussion doubling electronic keyboards. The text comes
from Guillaume Apollinaire's surreal and emotionally-charged poetry
inspired by the atrocities of World War, which also inspired Shostakovich
in his Fourteenth Symphony. Raw and riveting.

Music
From Copland House is the resident ensemble at Aaron Copland's longtime
New York home, now restored as a unique creative center for American music.
Since its triumphant New York debut at the Opening Night of Merkin Concert
Hall's 1999-2000 season, Music from Copland House has emerged as one of
the most exhilarating and distinctive ensembles on the American music scene.
In this beautifully played two CD set, they return to their roots--the
extraordinarily rich chamber pieces of Aaron Copland, who would have been
104 on November 14. This disk is a real sleeper.

You
may find better individual performances of each of Rachmaninov's four
piano concertos (Leif Ove Ondnes's No, 3, for example) but this 2-disk
set is hard to beat as a one-stop listening experience. Cobbled together
from 11 live performances over an 18-day period, the power chord, big sound,
sweeping Rachmaninov romanticism has never sounded, well, bigger or more
romantic. Littton is a Rocky Romantic Show specialist and it
shows in the orchestra's splendid melding with Hough's oversized playing.
Highly recommended, even if you already have them all.

Every
shard of Glass seems to finding its way onto a CD nowadays and it's getting
harder to tell the major Glass from the--forgive me--half Glass.
This is major Glass. The Cello Concerto is a real beauty, played
with real passion by Lloyd Webber and the RLP. The timpani concerto
is great, too, once you get past the thought that maybe Phil borrowed the
opening from Lalo Schifrin. This is the first of a series of four
CDs that Philip Glass and OrangeMountain
Music have planned entitled The Concerto Project, No. I-IV Eachdisc
contains two concerti.

What's
a nice Jewish boy like Leonard Bernstein doing writing a Mass? In
this case, he was invited to do so by Jacqueline Kennedy for the opening
of Kennedy Center in 1971. This is Lennie at his most flamboyant,
employing a big theatrical cast, mixed chorus, children’s choir, dancers
and a rock band. The libretto for Mass intersperses texts written
by Bernstein and Stephen Schwartz (lyricist for Godspell) into the Roman
Mass. The work explores the mass from the point of view of the Celebrant
(sung by Jerry Hadley), who is experiencing a crisis of faith. The Celebrant’s
faith is simple and pure at first, yet that faith gradually becomes unsustainable
under the weight of human misery, corruption, and the trappings of human
power. In the end, the Celebrant, on the verge of renouncinghis
faith, finds that the loneliness of his doubt is no match for the
joy of gathering together with other believersin
praise.

Hot
on the heels of their highly acclaimed recording of Britten’s Peter
Grimes, Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra are joined by
a magnificent cast led by Michele Pertusi for a spectacular performance
of Verdi’s comic masterpiece, Falstaff.Recorded
during the LSO’s centenary celebrations in 2004, this new recording of
Falstaff is one of the LSO Live’s finest performance to date. Who
needs major record labels

Something
of a coup for Naxos’ American Classics series matching world famous percussionist
Evelyn Glennie with Gramophone Artist of the Year Marin Alsop and the Colorado
Symphony Orchestra with one of America's most intriquing composers.
Daugherty has the uncanny ability to be all things to all listeners without
seeming to comprise either seriousness or an enjoyable listening experience. Commissioned
by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2001, Philadelphia Stories is an orchestral
travelogue of the sounds and rhythms of Philadelphia past and present.
UFO, written in 1999 for Evelyn Glennie, is inspired by unidentified flying
objects and sounds, beginning with Traveling Music where the percussion
soloist, in the guise of an alien from outer space, mysteriously enters
the concert hall playing a waterphone and mechanical siren.

These
works span the first six years of what American maverick composer Harry
Partch (1901–1974) called the "third period" of his creative life. They
show him moving away from the obsession with "the intrinsic music of spoken
words" that had characterized his earlier output (the vocal works of 1930–33
and 1941–45) and towards an instrumental idiom, predominantly percussive
in nature. The Eleven Intrusions are among the most compelling and
beautiful of Partch’s works. The individual pieces were composed at various
times between August 1949 and December 1950, and only later gathered together
as a cycle. Nonetheless they form a unified whole, with a nucleus of eight
songs framed by two instrumental preludes and an essentially instrumental
postlude.

No
one plays Busoni's piano music with greater clarity or depth of understanding
than Jeni Slotchiver. As she demonstrated in Volume I of this series,
this is music she clearly loves and understands both intellectually and
intuitively. There is no finer, or more committed, advocate
for this greatly underrated composer working today. See Slotchiver's
notes on Busoni the Visionary
here.

Dan
Locklair is an organist by trade and although he has written a wide body
of works--his prolific output includes symphonic works, a ballet, an opera
and numerous solo, chamber, vocal and choral compositions--one may be forgiven
for identifying him first with that glorious instrument. These chamber
works show that Locklair's command of musical language is far broader
and deeper than a single instrument. These fresh and engaging
works are musically challenging and yet a real treat for the ear.

These
are transcriptions of two early Glass works ("Fifths," originally performed
and recorded by Philip Glass with Jon Gibson and Dickie Landry in the original
version for saxophones and electric organ) and ("Two Pages", originally
done by Philip Glass on electric organ and Michael Riesman on piano).

As
always the Bang on a Can All Stars do a... well... bang up job and bring
a fresh perspective to two of the seminal works of Glass' early career.

This
is the third volume of the symphonies of the Danish composer Herman D Koppel
who lived from 1908 to 1998 and wrote seven symphonies between 1930 and
1961. Born in Copenhagen the son of Polish Jewish immigrants, Koppel
fled to Sweden during World War II and his Symphony No. 3, written there,
is an intensely personal work that mirrors the fears and anxieties of that
period. No. 5 is more hopeful and steady but lacks the raw energy
of the 3rd.

Balada’s
Guernica, completed in 1966, during the height of the Viet Nam War, was
inspired by Picasso’s large-scale mural of 1937, which has come to represent
a protest piece against all wars. Balada writes in a personal
modern idiom, although there are traces of his apprenticeships with Dello
Joio and Aaron Copland. Neither a serialist nor neo-classisist Balada
is modern in ways that are highly individual and sometimes hard to follow.
But, he's an original and a little patience from the listener is well worth
the effort.

German-born
Israeli composer Josef Tal, whose work I had never heard from this CD,
is said to have derived his musical style from the second Viennese
school and has remained an unrepentant modernist. He has also been an innovator
and pioneer, one of the first to combine a live instrument with a studio-generated
tape recording; he founded the Israel Center for Electronic Music and imported
the first Moog Synthesizer into his adopted country. These three symphonies
reveal a composer with a strong personal voice working at the height of
his powers. Very powerful.